Jalen Rose
Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American professional basketball player currently with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. He is the son of former NBA player Jimmy Walker. College career After graduating from Southwestern High School in Detroit, Rose attended the University of Michigan in which he participated in two losing appearances in NCAA Finals games in 1992 and 1993 as a part of Wolverines coach Steve Fisher's legendary 1991 recruiting class, dubbed the "Fab Five". He set the school freshmen scoring record with 597 points. During his career, he has racked up 1500 points, 400 rebounds, and 100 assists. NBA career Jalen has played for five different NBA teams, forging a solid pro career after skipping his senior season at Michigan. He was selected 13th overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 1994 NBA Draft. After two years with Denver, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers, along with Reggie Williams and a future 1st round draft pick, for Mark Jackson, Ricky Pierce, and a 1st round draft pick. Perhaps Rose's greatest NBA moments thus far have occurred as a member of the Indiana Pacers, as he helped the team get back on its feet after a disastrous 1997 season and make it to three consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances, including an Eastern Conference championship in 2000 (though Indiana would ultimately lose the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers). During the 2001-2002 season, Rose was traded to the Chicago Bulls along with Travis Best, Norman Richardson, and a future second round draft pick in exchange for Brad Miller, Ron Mercer, Ron Artest and Kevin Ollie. After 16 games in the 2003-2004 season, Rose was traded to the Toronto Raptors, along with power forwards Donyell Marshall and Lonny Baxter. About midway through the 2005-2006 campaign, he was traded to the New York Knicks for Antonio Davis, where he was reunited with Larry Brown, his coach for one year with the Indiana Pacers. Player profile As a player, the versatile Rose is known as a gifted scorer from the perimeter or the post, capable of putting up 20 points on most nights. Jalen is also a good passer, especially for his height, and Indiana often employed him as a point forward. Rose is sometimes regarded as a team leader, though he reportedly was a disruptive force in the Pacers' locker room during his feud with then-coach Isiah Thomas. While he showed a willingness in Toronto to work harder than ever (particularly on defense), Rose also frequently clashed with Raptors coach Sam Mitchell, who benched a struggling Jalen early in the 2005-2006 season in favor of rookie Joey Graham. This co-incided with Raptors' abysmal 1-15 record in the month of December 2005. In the following months, Rose at least raised his play to a more acceptable level. He increased his PER more than three whole points (to 13.7) while averaging 12.1 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game. However, he only shot 40.4% from the field and 27% from three-point range (including a 51.4 true shooting percentage) through 46 games. On February 3, 2006, Rose was traded, along with a first-round draft pick, and an undisclosed sum of cash (believed to be around $3 million), to the New York Knicks in exchange for 38 year-old ex-Raptor Antonio Davis. The motivation behind this trade was apparently to free up cap space (Rose earned close to $15 million a year) as well as to acquire an experienced center who can relieve some of Chris Bosh's rebounding duties. Rose's final game and contribution for the Raptors was a home tie against the Sacramento Kings, where he scored the winning basket in overtime. And in his first game against the Raptors as a Knicks player a couple of weeks later at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks won, with some valuable points from Rose himself. Miscellaneous Rose is now focusing his attention on making his "Jalen Rose Messenger Toolbar" a success. Jalen hopes that his entry into the internet world will rival the success of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, thanks to this innovation . The toolbar can be downloaded at Jalen's website. Rose is also known for his sundry ironic remarks. External links *ESPN.com *Official Website *The Official Jalen Rose Page at NBA.com *Jalen Rose ? Player profile, statistics, biography, wallpapers *SI.com *Yahoo Sports Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen Rose, Jalen